1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for enabling an integrated electronic system for tracking processing events for a meat animal from its conception to its consumption, by using data entry devices that minimize keyboard entry and multiple interconnected databases such that a particular animal history can provide both quality assurance source verification and performance tracking.
2. Description of Related Art
Overview
There is a need, for both economic and quality assurance reasons, for an efficient and cost-effective method for identifying and tracking livestock, and for the monitoring of the processing of those livestock. Throughout the livestock production and processing cycle, there is a need for more detailed information so that ranchers, stockmen, feedlots, and packers, distributors and retailers can make informed decisions about factors and variables such as genetics, herd management, purchasing, feed strategies, and ship dates. Producers who improve their animal performance can realize greater returns with performance based compensation when accurate information about the history and the value of each animal is easily available.
There is also a growing concern about quality assurance in the livestock processing cycle; and there is an opportunity for producers and processors who can establish that quality assurance to improve their compensation. Effective quality assurance programs such as HACCP, or Hazards Analysis and Critical Control Points, programs require accurate and timely information about the history of each animal.
The Beef Industry
The beef industry is a good example of the livestock industry. Traditionally, there are four segments to the U.S. beef industry: the cow/calf producer, the stockman, the feedlot, and the packer.
The commercial cow/calf producer has a herd of mother cows that are used to produce calves. The cows are bred to bulls so that, ideally, each cow has a new calf each year. The calf crop that is produced each year is used primarily for meat production, with some calves retained as replacements for the herd. The calves are usually weaned from their mothers at between six end eight months of age. The traditional producer will sell his animals once they are weaned. Typically, the main objectives of the producer are to have a calf from each cow each year; to have healthy, vigorous calves with the highest weaning weights at the lowest cost; and to produce the best meat, by factors such as tenderness and taste, at the lowest cost.
In order to support these objectives, the producer is interested in efficient systems for identifying and tracking individual animals as they rotate through the producer""s pastures; identifying which animals have a good calving history; monitoring the performance of various pastures; recording calf birth date and birth weight statistics and tracking the genetic history of each animal; evaluating the performance of calves from particular cows or bulls; recording the weaning date and weaning weight of each animal; and recording treatments, vaccinations, and other significant or events that have occurred in the animal""s life.
The stockman receives the weaned calves when they weigh approximately 500 pounds, and feeds them for four to six months until they weigh 700 to 800 pounds. The stockman""s typical objective is to add weight as fast as possible, while keeping the animals healthy. In order to support these objectives, the stockman is interested in collecting and using information such as identifying and tracking individual animals as they rotate through the stockman""s pastures; recording beginning, ending, and periodic weight measurements and treatments; and recording vaccinations and other significant events that have occurred in the animal""s life in order to track of the success of treatments as well as to eliminate duplicate treatments.
After the stockman phase, the animals are typically sent to a feedlot where they are fed a high-energy diet for about 120 days. At the feedlot, the cattle are in a finishing stage, where the main objective is to add pounds quickly while keeping the animals healthy. The cattle will be finished when they reach a weight of approximately 1,100 to 1,200 pounds. The feedlot is interested in animal weight gain, animal health, the effectiveness of various feed ration formulations, required waiting periods on shipping animals after drug treatments, and animal origin and history.
The slaughter facility or packer typically slaughters the animal and then chills, ages and cuts the carcass into the various cuts of meat and packs those cuts for shipment to distributors and retailers. The packer also provides grade and yield ratings for the carcass. Important quality factors include the live animal weight, the carcass weight, a chilled weight; and the yield, grade, and quality of the carcass and carcass defects. The information collected by the packer is important to all of the upstream participants, because it allows them to adjust their management practices based on the actual quality and economic result for each animal. The upstream data is important to the packer because it permits the packer to select animals that produce the results desired by his customers.
Typically, each of these four segments, the cow/calf producer, the stockman, the feedlot, arid the packer, have attempted to optimize their own operations, and there has been relatively little emphasis on cooperative optimization efforts. There is a growing recognition across these industry segments, however, that for both quality assurance reasons and for the improvement of the industry in general, it is desirable to attempt improved data collection and data management.
Variability and Quality Control
There is variability in individual animal production efficiency and in individual carcass quality characteristics such as weight, frame size, muscling, fat content, marbling, and feed efficiency. This variation is due to a combination of genetic factors and environmental factors such as health and drug treatments, nutrition, and growth history. Many of the genetic and environmental factors can be controlled or managed to improve both quality and economic return on investment if accurate historical information were available throughout the production cycle.
The livestock industry has recognized that certain livestock species and breeds outperform other species during production and processing. The prior art has used data collection systems and statistical analysis of data related to livestock breeds in order to identify higher performance breeds. There is a need to extend this data collection so that individual producers can make informed decisions about individual breeding animals in order to further improve their herds.
Electronic identification
Although it is possible to use manual identification methods for livestock and to employ manual data entry methods, it is desirable to automate the identification and data entry in order to reduce expense and to improve accuracy of the data. These devices typically produce either a unique alphanumeric code or a unique decimal code.
Electronic identification devices and systems have provided a good method for providing identification of livestock. Typically, electronic identification systems utilize a passive electronic identification device that is induced to transmit its identification signal by an externally radiating source. These passive electronic identification devices may be a transponder carried with the individual animal on a collar as illustrated and described in Carroll U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,481, issued Oct. 9, 1984, entitled xe2x80x9cIdentification Systemxe2x80x9d and in Kuzara U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,353, issued Jul. 31, 1984, entitled xe2x80x9cAnimal Feeding and Monitoring Systemxe2x80x9d; in an ear tag such as those commercially available from Destron/Fearing, Inc. Allflex USA, Inc. and Avid Marketing, Inc.; in a transponder implanted in the animal as illustrated and described in Pollack U.S. Pat. No. 4,854,328, issued Aug. 8, 1989, entitled xe2x80x9cAnimal Monitoring Telltale and Information Systemxe2x80x9d and in Hanton U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,632, issued Apr. 21, 1981, entitled xe2x80x9cElectronic Livestock Identification Systemxe2x80x9d; or in a bolus such as illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,632, issued Apr. 21, 1981, entitled xe2x80x9cElectronic livestock identification systemxe2x80x9d by John P. Hanton and Harley A. Leach.
Although electronic identification through radio frequency identification (RFID) tags or barcodes are used in some phases of the livestock production cycle, there is a need to provide a means for individual animal identification throughout the production cycle and to minimize the difficulty of data entry throughout the industry.
RFID Readers
Several RFID readers are commercially available, typically from the transponder 10 suppliers, including models form Destron/Fearing, Inc., Allflex USA, Inc. and Avid Marketing, Inc.
The prior art includes RFID readers that can distinguish multiple types of RFlD transponders as illustrated and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,326, issued Aug. 10, 1993, xe2x80x9cMulti-mode, identification systemxe2x80x9d to Michael L. Beigel, Nathaniel Polish, and Robert E. Malmi.
Some currently available readers offer stick-type, RFID antennas that can be placed into a pen or chute, and a cable connecting the antenna to a separate enclosure with a hand-held or lap-top computer. In these designs, the cable interface to the antenna is typically a weak point which will break down from repeated mechanical strain.
Databases and Management Systems
At different stages of the production cycle, there are different databases which exist for different business purposes. The rancher will typically maintain his own database, a stockman will have an inventory system, a feedlot will have a management database, and a packer will have its own inventory and management system. There is also a trend toward larger marketing alliance or national databases that include some data from each of these industry segments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,034, which issued Jun. 21, 1994 to Richard L. Willham, for a xe2x80x9cLivestock record systemxe2x80x9d describes a method for storing the individual animal""s identification and performance data on a programmable electronic identification and data storage module carried with the animal. An object of the present invention is to provide a low-cost per animal system for obtaining and maintaining source verification and performance databases that are independent of the animal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,505 issued to William C. Pratt on May 24, 1994 for a xe2x80x9cMethod and system for providing animal health histories and tracking inventory of drugsxe2x80x9d describes a method and system for providing improved drug treatment to selected animals in a retained group. A computer system is used to provide an operator with the health and drug treatment history of an animal. With this information and a diagnosis of the animal""s health condition, a drug treatment is chosen. The diagnosis and treatment are entered into the computer system to update the animal""s health and treatment history. An object of the present invention is to provide complete source verification and performance databases for all key livestock events.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,673,647 for a xe2x80x9cCattle management method and systemxe2x80x9d, issued on Oct. 7, 1997 to William C. Pratt, describes an automated method and system for providing individual animal electronic identification, measurement and value based management of cattle in a large cattle feedlot. That method includes individual animal identification, a computer system, and multiple measurements coupled with a cattle handling and sorting system. An object of the Pratt patent was to build a feedlot data base to more accurately identify and measure characteristics such as weight, so that subsequent animals could be produced and fed for more effective value-based selection and management of the animals. In particular, that database related to calculations for economic management of feeding and shipping to permit optimum weight gains and feedlot ship dates. Whereas the feedlot patent disclosed identifying a particular animal on arrival at the feedlot, an object of the present invention is to track individual animals throughout the production cycle and to maintain performance and source verification data in the least disruptive manner to existing databases and management systems.
This invention features a reader which can recognize multiple types of transponders; that is designed to be hand held in a working chute environment, such that it is rugged and moisture resistant, that has a sealed switch; and that communicates over greater distance to a host computer or data consolidation device. The preferred flashlight shape permits a familiar and convenient object to be held by the user. The rigid body permits the reader to be placed into an alleyway, cage, or chute.
The RFDC eliminates cables and, therefore, the physical weak point. It also allows the unit to be a compact, easy-to-handle device without unwieldy cables that tangle and interfere with the user""s job. The RFDC communications provide the user improved range and flexibility in the work area. With the addition of audio feedback and especially with wireless headphones, the user becomes completely mobile while performing tasks. The user now roams up and down an Alleyway, scanning cows and entering the results of pregnancy checks, scanning steers as they are sorted to various locations, or other tasks.
An object of the present invention is to provide an effective data collection and database management methodology in the livestock industry including automated entry for individual animal identification; automated entry events and of default values for events and data in the processing cycle; and effective communication and sharing of data between the various databases. One result of this data collection and management invention is that quality assurance source verification data for individual animals will be available throughout the production cycle. This source verification will include the ability to implement HACCP plans. The source verification provides an opportunity for enhanced product value through improved quality assurance and food safety.
Another result of this data collection and management invention is that animal-specific performance information can be provided to the producer, the stockman, and the feedlot, and the packer so that those entities can make informed herd management and operational decisions. Improved information availability permits all segments of the livestock industry to reduce their cost of operations while improving product quality. The opportunities for process improvement range from avoiding duplicate treatments; to selecting more cost effective breeding stock; to selecting more cost effective feeds.
The data collection and management capability is provided in a seamless and non-intrusive manner to all participants. The system encourages the collection and storage of data by putting the majority of the data collection and management process in the background, transparent to the user. Features of the present invention include automated data entry with useful default capabilities for common processing situations, feedback to confirm receipt of data, and the effective integration of multiple databases and inventory or management systems. As part of the production process, other entities, which are not usually in the chain of title to an animal, also have an interest in a portion of the data. Veterinarians can access the health history, nutritionists can access the feed and health history, and bankers can know the location of their collateral. An object of the present invention is to employ authorization levels to designate what information may be made available to these entities.
Through the current invention, the complete history of an animal is now equally available throughout the production cycle, both source verification and specific performance information are accessible without unnecessary duplication of data.
Although the invention is described in the context of beef cattle, it is not so limited. It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention can be modified, without departing from its principles, for other livestock including cattle, swine, sheep, goats, and fowl.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method and apparatus for a livestock data collection and management system is described. The objectives of the present invention are to provide an efficient and cost-effective system and method of livestock data collection and data management that will provide quality assurance, HACCP compliance, and source verification data for individual animals throughout the production cycle. The resulting information will provide a basis for the producer, the stockman, the feedlot, and the packer to make informed herd management and operational decisions. Components of the data collection and management system in the preferred embodiment include unique Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) transponders for each animal; a RFID Reader that can identify the animal transponders; a data concentrator which collects information from multiple measurement equipment or output devices; RF event action tags to automate data entry, preset event data default capability, and data transfer between databases to eliminate duplicate data entry.